Firedept Coffee Is New, Different; From Musician To IT Leader

Small Business Digest

Luke Schneider, the co-founder of Fire Dept Coffee tells how, why, where, when, the company came about. Tom Crowley and his rock band got a record deal, moved to LA, and at their peak had a July 4 gig opening for Three Dog Night and the Beach Boys in Washington, D.C. After the band fell apart, Crowley returned to the Chicago area and opened a company selling PC components. Then one day a customer asked about putting his name on a custom server – and Crowley became a pioneer in the now-booming server appliance business. Today Libertyville-based MBX Systems is one of the few companies in the country that focuses exclusively on designing and manufacturing server appliances